House Panel Proposes Eliminating SDA, Space RCO

House lawmakers this week included language in their version of the fiscal 2027 defense policy bill that would dissolve two Space Force rapid acquisition organizations, absorbing their programs and potentially replicating their authorities in the service’s new portfolio-based acquisition system. 

The House Armed Services Committee’s draft National Defense Authorization Act, released May 26, calls for repealing the laws that established the Space Development Agency and the Space Rapid Capabilities Office.

The proposed change would pave the way for the Space Force to integrate those offices into its new acquisition structure, which consolidates existing program offices under the oversight of nine “portfolio acquisition executives” that will manage programs by mission area and eventually have the authority to shift funding and adjust requirements based on demand and changing threats. The reorganization, mandated by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to be implemented by all of the military services, is meant to empower acquisition leaders and position them to deliver defense capabilities faster.

The Space RCO and Space Development Agency, formed by congressional mandate, were established outside of the Pentagon’s typical space acquisition structures to move fast and do many of the things Hegseth’s reform push is aiming for. Now that the entire system is shifting that way, the service isn’t sure it still needs the standalone offices.

Space Force officials have signaled as much as they’ve incrementally rolled out their PAE structure over the last several months.

“The way the SDA and the RCO have been structured, to be honest, those are kind of the models of how we’re actually going to structure all the PAEs,” Air Force Secretary Troy Meink said April 13 at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo. “The goal is, pretty much the way SDA operates, most of the PAEs would be operating in a very similar fashion.”

Thomas Ainsworth, acting space acquisition executive, said May 27 said as the service is considering what authorities it might want its PAEs to have, it’s looking closely at organizations like SDA, Space RCO, and the National Reconnaissance Office. He didn’t discuss those authorities in detail—in part because they’re still being finalized—but said the service is planning to establish what’s called a capability trade council, similar to SDA’s warfighter council, that will weigh in on requirements and will include operator input. He also noted that the service is aiming for consistency in authorities across all of its PAEs.

“They have the same authorities,” he said during a State of the Space Industrial Base event hosted by NewSpace Nexus. “If you move between one PAE and another, you’re not sitting there having to figure out a whole new process. Everyone’s working off of the same process in the same rule book.”

Created in 2018, the Space RCO quickly develops and fields high-need—and largely classified—space capabilities, working closely with combatant commands and end users. Among its known programs is a deployable satellite communications jammer called the Remote Modular Terminal, which is being used operationally by Combat Forces Command’s Mission Delta 3. Another publicized Space RCO effort, the Rapid Resilient Command and Control program, aims to build a consolidated, cloud-based platform to operate new and older orbital warfare satellites. 

SDA, meanwhile, was established in 2019 as the department’s first attempt at building a proliferated satellite constellation in low=Earth orbit. The agency’s focus has been on fielding data transport and missile warning and tracking satellites, with a strategy that emphasizes regular technology refresh and competition. In 2023, it launched its first batch of satellites, Tranche 0, which aimed to demonstrate the concept, and it is now in the midst of putting its first operational spacecraft on orbit. 

The language included in the House Armed Services Committee’s draft bill must still be approved by the full chamber and then the Senate before taking effect, but the Space Force has already made some moves to integrate SDA into its planned PAE structure. Earlier this month, it named SDA’s director as its PAE for missile warning and tracking and said the agency’s LEO satellites will be included in that portfolio. Meanwhile, the Space Force will field the first two tranches of SDA’s transport layer, but its fiscal 2027 budget request proposes canceling future tranches and instead shifting the service’s tactical data transport requirements into a new hybrid architecture called the Space Data Network. 

How the Space RCO’s programs would fit within the new acquisition structure if Congress ends up eliminating the office is less clear. Speaking at the same May 27 event, Space RCO Director Kelly Hammett called the uncertainty “a bit of a frustrating journey,” noting that he’d just had a meeting with Ainsworth on the topic.

“All the details about what that means have not rolled out. It’s come out in bits and pieces,” Hammett said. “Conceptually, you can understand that. I’ll just say, from my perspective, I spent four years trying to build this world-class organization of highly trained acquisition hunter-killers, and we’re finally there. I just hope that that is recognized and valued and maintained as this whole journey continues to move forward.”